One year on — an update from the "QAnon mom"

In May 2025, readers clubbed together to protect a vulnerable mother and school teacher facing political persecution through the family court system. This is her update.

What happens when a family court judges you not on evidence and conduct—but instead on political affiliation and speech? When your only “misdeed” is to leave your child in trusted hands while taking a vacation with a “conspiracy theorist”? And then proceeds to reward what are alleged to be criminal acts committed against you whilst away, helping strip you of your child, your home, and your savings?

That is, regrettably, the situation a Tennessee mother found herself in after visiting me in the summer of 2024—drawing me into an American justice battle not of my own making or choosing. Last year I raised $13,000 to help reboot her life after what I regard as a profound constitutional injury. One tangible result was a used car that enabled her to get to work. What follows is her own update on the year since.

I was going to send this only to those who donated. She insisted I send it to everyone.

We are in this fight together. Ordinary people resist abuse by refusing to leave one another to face it alone. That is true whether the threat comes from predatory family members or institutions that forget their constitutional purpose. This may have the outward form of a Substack newsletter, but at times its substance is closer to church.

I have already written five articles on the matter, listed here as background:

• Field report: Family court in America — a firsthand account from inside the courtroom.

• False kings and pleasant lies — how family courts can invert justice by rewarding deception.

• The QAnon kid: a judicial custody coup — how national security narratives became entangled with a child custody dispute.

• It’s bigger than just child trafficking — why this case points to broader patterns in the weaponisation of law.

• The constitutional injury recovery test for MAGA — what constitutional restoration could mean for cases like this.

So, over to Stacie — the “QAnon mom”.

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Dear Martin and Friends,

About a year ago, many of you came together to help purchase my Chevy Malibu. I wanted to update you on what that gift has meant to me, not just practically, but personally.

When you helped provide that car, you gave me far more than transportation. You gave me independence, dignity, and the ability to keep moving forward during one of the most difficult seasons of my life.

I continue to legally reside with my estranged husband. Since our separation, he has taken control of all joint funds and assets, leaving me responsible for more than $34,000 in credit card debt. Although he covers certain household bills, he refuses to maintain basic services in the home. We have lived without air conditioning and without hot water, and I have been told that anything beyond the bare minimum is mine to figure out.

I sleep in the guest room. I maintain the property, handle the cleaning, collect the trash, care for the yard, and do my best to preserve a home that no longer feels like one.

Perhaps most painful of all, I have lost custody of my child and am now living with the profound grief of estrangement. I raised her from birth. A previous custody attempt was denied by a court that noted she was thriving in my care. In this case, the emergency motion was declared “without merit,” and both judges involved described her as a delightful teenager.

The only allegation that seemed to stick in court was not about my parenting, but about my relationship with Martin, who was labelled “QAnon.” The smear was not even aimed directly at me.

Through all of this, I have continued teaching middle school English. Every morning, that Chevy Malibu carries me to the classroom. Every afternoon, it carries me home. It has taken me not only to work, but also to many appointments, to social meetings, and to the countless responsibilities that come with rebuilding a life one day at a time.

There have been moments this year when it felt as though almost everything familiar had been stripped away. Yet each morning, I can walk outside, start that car, and know that I still have a way forward.

You may have thought you were helping me buy a vehicle. In reality, you provided a lifeline.

Your generosity has allowed me to remain employed, maintain some measure of stability, and continue serving the students who depend on me. It gave me the freedom to move when so much of my life felt stuck. It reminded me that even in seasons of loss, there are people willing to stand beside someone they may never meet.

I want each of you to know that I have not forgotten your kindness. I think about it often. On days when the road ahead feels overwhelming, I remember that an entire community of people chose to help carry a burden that was too heavy for me to carry alone.

Thank you for the car. Thank you for the practical help. Thank you for the encouragement. Thank you for reminding me that grace often arrives through the hands of ordinary people who simply decide to care.

With deep gratitude,
Stacie

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She cried as she read the last paragraph to me yesterday.

The unprompted note from one of her pupils is the article header, and I repeat the text below:

Thank you for everything you do. You have truly been an inspiration to me und everyone around you. No matter what you always show up and give 110% and we can all tell.

I understand that it can’t be easy being a teacher but you are good at it. Me and all your other students notice and appreciate your effort. You bring so much joy to everybody.

I’m so grateful for the memories I made in your class. Again, thank you for everything.

You aren’t just helping a mother, or protecting constitutional rights. You are directly enabling a gifted teacher to help young people navigate a confused and often frightening world.

This isn’t the only testimonial of this nature. A student with mental health issues was asked whether there was another adult that she trusted, and named Stacie. The student’s mother came to school, hugged Stacie, and thanked her for being there for her child.

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When courts harm good parents and good teachers, children pay the price. That is the inevitable consequence of replacing evidence and law with labels and ideology.

The immediate casualty is a family. The enduring casualty is the republic.

The attorney for the plaintiff chose to import a national security narrative into a family-law dispute. Whatever readers think of my views, I was never accused of wrongdoing towards the child, never called to the witness stand, and had never even met the child.

Yet far more attention was devoted to my perceived beliefs than to the legal basis for removing a child contrary to a standing custody order.

That is why I keep documenting this case. If constitutional restoration means anything, it must include correcting cases where narrative displaced law.

Otherwise the Constitution is merely decorative.

Thank you, once again, for standing with Stacie. Your generosity did far more than buy a car. It helped preserve the life and work of a remarkable teacher when she needed it most.

We simply couldn’t have got this far without you.

🙏